Dear ____________________ ,

Dear Pumpkin Delight,

I don't specifically hate LA. The several times I have been there it just doesn't leave me with a warm and fuzzy feeling. I almost feel like it is a place where millions of people live because they have to for work, and not because they love it or want to make it a great place to live.

There are some fantastic things about it. For instance: you, Jason and family, Barbra Streisand and, of course, Rock Hudson's footprints... oh I guess American Apparel is pretty awesome too.

I just have a question about your last Tasty Tuesday post... Do you actually count out 40 basil leaves exactly or do you just grab a bunch of basil and call it a day?

Dear Grandma J,

THAT SHIRT is going to make many a reappearances as I get through the rest of our trip! At this rate, I should be finished telling you about it sometime in late 2012.

I think it is a fab idea to have a blog where the shirt makes it around the world, but then I would have to give up my favourite shirt!

For the record, at Universal Studios I did not wear THAT SHIRT. I wore my other shirt, which if you go back and look at some of the photos from the trip, will be easy to guess which shirt that was.

What a pity about 9 to 5! I know why people only go to big over the top showstoppers, they have proven the test of time, the music is familiar and they have a stronger sense of fantasy than, let's just say a boring office.

Did you know that I used to live in Texas? My only memory is wearing cowboy boots and all of the Cottonwood Trees! Remember the Alamo? No I don't. So I will take you up on that offer when I am Texas next.

PS - A new vocabulary word, bathers can also be called "cossies" (pronounced "cozzies").


Dear Mom #1,

I am with Mom #2! I did not find the water squirting very fun! Maybe only because I wear glasses and I had to constantly find a dry spot on my shirt to clean them off. I did love the 4-D rides though.

I saw on your blog that you have already seen Cinderella and I am dying to know what you thought! I have to admit, my views on opera changed during a performance of Cinderella. I was actually riveted, but unfortunately I had to leave at intermission because I had another engagement. So you will need to let me know how it ends!

The son does have red hair, it comes from The Man's Scottish blood on his paternal side. It is a nice colour of orange... You know how some red heads just don't have a nice shade of red?

As I told Grandma J, I used to live in Texas when I was very young. I think we lived in the middle of the desert, but I really can't remember. There were scorpions, or so my mother tells me, that used to run through the house.

After Grandma J shows me the Alamo, you can take me to the beach. You say that you can drive all the way down to the water, is the valet all the way down there?

I have to say that one thing I did love about LA was the valet parking everywhere! I hate to park the car, and I love that you can pay someone else to do it, plus when you are waiting for the valet to bring your car back, you can sometimes be waiting next to D-List celebrities.

I wonder if you can valet park an RV? Have you come any closer on a decision on an RV? There are a large number of retired folks who travel around Australia in RVs, we call them the Grey Nomads.

Dear Everyone Who is Reading this Right Now (and I am looking at you),

A beautiful person and his beautiful family really need a big hug and some home made cookies. Let's all reach out our arms to Jason and give him the biggest, hardest bear hug ever and let him know that we are right there with him.

Love, Hula Hank